Schengen Entry/Exit System now live: new biometric border routine and unchanged insurance rules for Indians

Indian travellers applying for Schengen visas face a new reality at European borders: as of 10 April 2026 the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) is fully operational at all external crossing points, replacing passport stamps with facial and fingerprint scans. A detailed explainer published on 11 October 2026 by NewEdgePolicy breaks down what the change—and persistent myths about ETIAS—mean for Indian business and leisure visitors. Key points: • EES records each entry, exit or refusal for three years (five if no exit is recorded), allowing automated overstay detection. Because Indian applicants already submit fingerprints to the Visa Information System during application, only a facial scan is typically required at the gate. • Contrary to social-media claims, the mandatory EUR 30,000 travel-medical-insurance requirement in Article 15 of the Schengen Visa Code remains unchanged. The article explains how multiple-entry applicants only need insurance for the first trip plus a signed undertaking. • Indian passport holders do NOT need ETIAS authorisation; ETIAS applies only to visa-exempt nationalities. The European Commission has yet to announce a new ETIAS launch date after postponing the original Q4 2026 target. For mobility managers the immediate action item is communications: brief staff on longer e-gates queues during the bedding-in period and remind them that missing an exit stamp is no longer a defence against overstay findings. Visa support teams should update document-checklists so that insurance certificates explicitly mention repatriation of remains and EUR 30,000 coverage—consulates are rejecting generic policies more aggressively. Companies with frequent Schengen travellers may also wish to collect EES entry/exit screenshots as an additional time-and-attendance proof, since manual stamps will disappear from passports.